French Connection today said it expected profits to be "significantly below expectations" after its winter clothing offer failed to connect with customers.

The fashion chain said it anticipated full year profits to come in 15% lower than the previous year after an 18% fall in like-for-like sales in the UK and continental Europe in the three months since August 1.

It said this was due to issues with the make-up of its winter clothing ranges, which it said were "not sufficiently attractive" to customers.

An improvement in this trend during the remainder of the season was unlikely, the group said in a trading update.

French Connection said it had taken steps to strengthen its spring ranges, which it expects to launch in stores in late January.

"We believe these actions should further improve the appeal of these ranges to our customers," it said.

The poor UK and European trading and the profits warning contrasted with its upbeat interim announcement in September, when it said half year profits had lifted by 12% to £15.4 million despite a "disappointing" performance from UK retail.

The chain said that had been due to a strong performance from its wholesale trading business, while the further development of licensed products also helped.

It said then that UK trading had been poor, but that the outlook for the remainder of the business continued to be good.

In a conference call with journalists, French Connection operations director Neil Williams said the winter collection had done poorly partly because "certain product categories" had turned out not to have performed as well as expected.

As an example, he said the group's winter knitwear ranges had sold well in the past, but needed to be moved on and made more interesting.

Mr Williams described the performance as "clearly disappointing", but the group had acted immediately to try to turn the situation around including a new head of retail buying and merchandising in its retail business.

He said the initial response from the group's wholesale customers to its spring collection had been positive.

Mr Williams dismissed speculation that the group planned to drop its FCUK branding, saying the problem was more to do with product attractiveness.

He added that French Connection did not expect the current situation to have any job implications for its 2,000 staff in the UK.

"We are confident we will continue to hold our position on the high street," Mr Williams said.